Midwest Book Review
Millman's parable of a wise woman and laws of spirit which help to make life work smoothly contains gentle reflection and spiritual education for all who consult his title. The laws of spirit are at the basis of all religious traditions: Millman's outline documents their importance.


NAPRA ReVIEW, Fall 1995
Millman, the author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior, has another likely bestseller in his latest book. The fictional story begins with the author/hero taking a walk in the mountains and meeting a wise woman who leads him on a journey to places not connected by our understanding of spatial reality. Along this journey, she teaches our hero some simple spiritual principles, such as The Law of Balance, The Law of Integrity, The Law of Action. Each of the twelve laws is illustrated by coupling the heros simple ignorance with the wise woman's storytelling. Readers who have enjoyed Millman's other books will certainly want this one; his easy conversational style is still engaging.


Body, Mind, Spirit magazine, January 1996
Former world-champion athlete turned best-selling author (The Way of the Peaceful Warrior and Secret of the Peaceful Warrior), Dan Millman proffers his latest book, The Laws of Spirit, in that time-honored form of storytelling, the parable. In a series of fictional allegorical tales, Millman is taken on a tour of wild forest and mountain habitats by a shaman-like wise woman he meets in a mountainside cove. Together they explore and observe nature and her creatures who show them much about principles such as faith, compassion, choice, action and surrender. A modern-day oracle of uplifting wisdom, this little book aims to open the heart and enlighten the mind.


Book Description
The Laws of Spirit is a parable by Dan Millman, best-selling author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior, that explores the mystery of existence and the spiritual laws that shape the direction, meaning, and path of each person's life. While on a mountain hike, Dan Millman encounters a woman of great wisdom who takes him on an odyssey of spiritual discovery. Through stories, tests and experiences in the wilderness, she explains the fundamental laws of: balance, choice, process, presence, compassion, faith, expectation, integrity, action, cycles, surrender, and unity. The Laws of Spirit illuminates keys to inner peace and hidden potential that lead to a deeper sense of meaning, connection, and harmony with all of creation. It is a book that will become a friend on any readers journey through life.


From the Publisher
To our readers: The books we publish are our contribution to an emerging world based on cooperation rather than on competition, on affirmation of the human spirit rather than on self-doubt, and on the certainty that all humanity is connected. Our goal is to touch as many lives as possible with a message of hope for a better world. - Hal and Linda Kramer, Publishers


From the Inside Flap
Within the mystery of our existence, the universe operates according to spiritual laws as real as the law of gravity and as constant as the turning of the heavens. These laws can transform our relationships, careers, finances, and health. Simply put, they make life work. In The Laws of Spirit, Dan Millman offers a teaching tale, a parable, in which he encounters a woman of great wisdom while on a mountain hike. Seemingly ageless, with mutable features and lightning quick reflexes, this nameless sage takes him on an odyssey of spiritual discovery. Through stories, tests, and experiences in the wilderness, she illuminates the laws of balance, choice, process, presence, compassion faith, expectation, integrity, action, cycles, surrender, and unity. The laws of Spirit belong to each and all of us. They are found within our own hearts and at the heart of every religion, moral system, and spiritual tradition. As you make your own odyssey through the pages of this book, you will find keys to inner peace and hidden potentialopening doors to a deeper sense of meaning, connection, and harmony with all of creation. The Laws of Spirit is a book that you will refer to again and again for inspiration on lifes journey.


From the Back Cover
Praise for The Laws of Spirit "We're in great need of such books. Don't let this one pass you by." (John Bradshaw, Author of Family Secrets) "Wise and playful teachings, as easy as your breath, a gracious as the Tao." (Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart) "A can't put down book filled with spiritual nuggets." (Gerald G. Jampolsky, Author of Letting Go of Fear) "Dan Millman brings into our consciousness the flowering of spirit." (Lynn Andrews, Author of Medicine Woman) "A valuable contribution to our growing collective awareness." (Ken Carey, Author of The Third Millennium)


About the Author
Dan Millman is a former world trampoline champion, student of the martial arts, as well as coach and faculty member at Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, and Oberlin College, and was recently inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Now a best-selling author and popular speaker, he presents practical ways to transform our daily challenges into vehicles of spiritual growth. His eight books, including Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior, No Ordinary Moments, The Life You Were Born to Live, The Inner Athlete, and The Laws of Spirit, have inspired millions of people in twenty-two languages worldwide. For nearly two decades, Dan Millman's work has influenced leaders in the fields of health, psychology, education, business, politics, entertainment, sports, the arts, and people from all walks of life and who share a common interest in the fields of personal growth and human potential. He and his family live in northern California.


Excerpted from The Laws of Spirit : Simple, Powerful Truths for Making Life Work by Dan Millman. Copyright © 1995. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Over the years, for health and enjoyment, I have often hiked into the wilderness near my home - up the narrow deer trails and down forested hillsides covered with oak, pine, and manzanita - wandering as impulse has taken me along the mountains leading to the coast. On one such occasion, some years ago, when my family was away for a long weekend, I rose before dawn and set out without a plan except to climb at leisure and explore new country. The mountains, no more that a few thousand feet high, still had enough rises and dips to lose sight of civilization, evoking a sense of mystery and wonder as I imagined myself a hundred miles from anywhere. The rolling hills reflected the peaks and valleys of my own inner life. At the moment, I felt lost in a valley filled with shadows of doubt. My life had fallen into an orderly routine. So on this particular morning I took with me into the hills an unspoken desire for excitement, for insight, for change. I was soon to discover the truth of the saying Be careful what you ask for; you might get it. On this morning, low clouds had drifted in from the coast to settle over the wilderness, and after I had hiked up some distance I found myself in a fold between the hills, enveloped in a fog so thick I could see no more than a few feet ahead. The air became cold and still, and I soon lost any sense of direction. Hearing a stream somewhere below, I kept it behind me, thinking I might climb up out of this shrouded valley. I soon came to a plateau nestled beneath some ancient oaks just above a steep drop-off. I had, quite by accident, approached the plateau from the only possible anglea narrow path between a wall of boulders. As I climbed around one of the massive stones, the fog disappeared to reveal a tiny hut standing before me. I approached and tapped lightly on the door. To my surprise, a resonant voice rang out with unexpected warmth, as if I were a long-awaited guest: "Do come in , Traveler, come in!" And so, wandering off the beaten path of my life, I opened the door and found the sage, sitting quietly, smiling up at me. For no reason I could discern, goose bumps appeared on my arms. She sat with a feline grace, erect yet relaxed, balanced upon a cushion of leaves on the earthen floor. She was dressed in a green tunic. Maybe she thinks she's in Sherwood Forest, I thought. Her eyes held my attention - almond eyes, hazel colored, illumined by rays of sunlight shining through a crack in the walleyes set like jewels in a face of smooth olive skin, crowned by short brown hair that gave no clear sign of her age, race, or culture. She seemed to be surrounded by a bright field of energy, which I assumed was a trick of the light. I began to feel oddly disoriented. I lost my bearings in time as well as space; Was this a primeval rain forest, a hillside in Shakespeares England, the Scottish highlands, or a mountain abode of the Chinese immortals? "A long time since I've had a visitor," she said. "I'm glad you have come, for I have much to share. And I need your assistance in a mission of great importance." Was she lost? Did she need a guide: Puzzled but intrigued, I only said, "That sounds interesting." "I believe you'll find it so," she replied, "but first you'll need some training to prepare you." "Prepare me? Uh, if this is going to take hour than a couple of hours, I'm not sure I have the time." "You have both less and more time than you imagine," she said, a strange response. Judging her odd but harmless, I decided to play along and see where this led. She gestured for me to sit down. "Make yourself comfortable, Traveler; I know why you have come and that you have journeyed far." I was about to tell her that we were only an hour's hike from my home; then I sensed she was referring not to my morning's walk, but to the long and winding path of my life. Abruptly, my mind was flooded with countless images, impressions of may different times and cultures. I had a strange sense that they were somehow connected with her. Then doubt entered my mind: Surely, I thought, she's just a reclusive woman and I'm weaving an adventure where there is none. "Who are you?" I asked. "A reflection in a quiet pond," she said. "A ray of moonlight on a dark night, as young as the morning dew and as old as the Earth. All things are in me, and I am in all things. Beyond that, Traveler, I cannot say, for my life is as mysterious as yours. The only difference between us is that I live in the embrace of a Spirit to which you are just awakening." Speechless at first, I finally asked, "What should I call you? Do you have a name?" "A name?" She looked genuinely surprised. "I've had so many names, I hardly remember." "Well, what do you call yourself?" "I hardly ever call myself," she replied with a smile. And that was that. "Well, where do you come from?" "I venture forth from the past and the future. I live in the eternal present. We've lost and found one another time and time again. I've worked with you in an old gas station and walked with you through the Hawaiian rain forest. I've lived in great cities. I've sat in high courts under arched domes lined with silver and gold. I've known the comforts of hearth and home and the solitude of the mountain monastery. I've labored in dusty fields, know the risk and riches of high enterprise, and felt the cold lash of poverty. I've walked beneath jeweled canopies of stars, through shadows cast by moonlight. I've traveled the seas, won and lost fortunes, known health and illness, pleasure and pain. And I have found treasures that would dazzle your eyes - luminescent silks, opals as large as fists, and sparkling gems of every color - but I would share with you the greatest treasure of all, a gift that grows in the giving and never loses its luster." As she continued, her voice was the voice of All People, shifting like the wind, blowing through dusty hallways of history and places of radiant light. "Magic is alive in the world, Traveler. I intend to share with you the secrets of alchemy."

ANNOTATION